Watermelon berry

Streptopus amplexifolius has been used for its spring shoots that supposedly taste of cucumber and the ripe berries that give the plant one of its names, watermelon berry….A bit seedy (which I’m saving) but tasty! Can be laxative in large amounts! I saw a lot of this plant on the west coast of the US, but this plant originates from Europe (the plant is found in the wild both in North America, Europe and East Asia). A good forest garden plant.
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Black raspberry

Black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) perfectly complements my red raspberries here as the one finishes as the other begins! I had my first blacks today (14th September 2015), seed propagated from a US variety Black Hawk some years ago…
Another reason to grow it is that a Polish study showed they contained 3 times the antioxidants as red raspberries and blackberries: http://www.digitaljournal.com/life/health/black-raspberries-are-the-antioxidant-superfood/article/453955

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Workshops with the extreme salad man in Iceland in early September!

Two workshops in Iceland on my way back from the US…!!

5th September – 1pm to 5pm Sal Garðyrkjufélags Íslands, Síðumúla 1, Reykjvaík “Ætar plöntur með Stephen Barstow – Námskeið Sumarhússins og garðsins (Edible plants with Stephen Barstow)” See https://www.facebook.com/events/1479525102347465/

7th September – 10:00am to 4pm – Hlíðardalsskóli, Iceland. Workshop on “Plants worthy of trying out in Iceland” https://www.facebook.com/events/1524505947835548 and https://www.facebook.com/events/499988026842767/

Japanese woodlanders

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Shidoke, see http://shikigami.net/forest/shidoke-parasenecio-delphiniifolia I got this one under the synonym name Cacalia delphiniifolia!
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Patrinia triloba v. takeuchiana
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Patrinia triloba v. takeuchiana

 

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Parasenecio maximowiczianus Arve Elvebakk presented me with this plant as a thank you after my gudied tour of the Tromsø Botanics earlier in the summer smile emoticon He managed the botanical name without faltering!

I love these weird and wonderful hard to get woodlanders from Japan and elsewhere in the Far East, many of which are edible. Here are three that are currently flowering! I have yet to try them though…

 

 

 

Perennials vs. annuals

Picture taken by journalist Heidi Løkken in my garden this week showing my straggling tree climbing Hablitzia together with a French dandelion cultivar “Vert de Montmagny Ameliore”. Before I really discovered perennials, this was a part of my vegetable garden I struggled with as it was so dry under the birch tree during summer. Using perennials, the same area is one of the most productive parts of the garden as it’s damp enough when the perennials are growing strongest to the end of June!

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Walled Kitchen Garden Network Forum weekend talks in October

I’m talking on both days at the Walled Kitchen Garden Network Forum weekend at  the National Trust Property Croome Court in Worcestershire, England on 3rd-4th October. See the link for details (it’s open to all!)

https://wkgn.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/forum-update

What makes me qualified to talk to walled gardeners?  I do have a walled garden you know (where my greenhouse once stood!) :) OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden